Thanksgiving and Grampy

Friday we had a lovely afternoon, meal, and evening with the Dibiases at their house in Pasadena... one of the best turkey dinners we have eaten in a long time. Since our contributions were salad, bread, and a pumpkin cheesecake (came out quite well; had never made one before so was pleased), the meal owed little to us. Thank you Dibiases! Great times and conversation with them and their friends Justin and Kayla, with daughters Lucy and Claire. Fire pit in the backyard between courses with a couple marshmallows to roast was an added bonus.

My dad is in town for 2.5 days visiting us en route to a conference in San Fran next week. We're having a great time with him and the kids are delighted to spend time with their Grampy. Of course we are all sad to miss seeing Nana whose quirky health issues this fall prevented her from joining him this time around.

The Thanksgiving decorations are coming down now as we ramp up on Advent, so thought I'd include our Thanksgiving collage for future reference. Have you ever seen a turkey that green?! Love it. Pine cone turkeys came out cute too.

Turkey Day, today and tomorrow

Low-key Thanksgiving today, mostly because we're celebrating our Turkey Day tomorrow with New England friends the Dibiases at their house in Pasadena. We have a pumpkin cheesecake baking in the oven right now for the occasion. So our very nice day today included neighborly coffee and apple fritters with the Scherreis this morning; a run for me; some garage work for HF (he's working on selling the Land Rover so did some tinkering there); and lots of puzzles with the kids. They're on new big puzzle kick; we're all lovin' 'em. Also we hit Old Navy because it was open today, and we just belatedly booked tickets to CT for mid-December to visit with HF's family... Some need for cold-weather clothes for a few of us and our stages of growth (including me. Never been this pregnant in the winter months before!) Samuel just got home from the hospital this week too after 20 weeks in the NICU - hooray! - so as an added bonus we will get to see him.

On Tuesday the San Diego Welds stopped by to spend the morning with us en route to the San Francisco area wher

e they are spending Thanksgiving with family. We hadn't seen them in 9 months and it was great to spend some time together; the monkey and their 5-year old, Michael, get on famously. This shot is of the two of them with Roo playing ring-a-round-a-rosie with a tree. Love it. Emily is pregnant as well, also due this spring.

Joshua Tree climbers

HF got two days off this week in compensation for having worked all weekend last weekend. We headed out to Joshua Tree for a little camping and rock-climbing. Last time we camped there it was June 2009 and I was 31 weeks pregnant; this time I am a mere 19 weeks, which made tenting a bit easier and less cumbersome. At the same time, it was about 40 degrees at night this time around so there was a lot more dressing of kids, layers, etc. There was a beautiful full moon and we enjoyed a lovely fire; memorable evening had by all. The Goose timed things perfectly with her walking skills; it was great to have her on her feet, rather than her knees, at our sandy campsite.

We had a great time and the kids go their first time of rock-climbing with gear... They loved it. Mom even tried her hand on the little climb their dad pitched for them. First time I have donned gear since 2000... I'm determined to keep up with the kids and their ventures so that their skills don't exceed mine (for a very long time at least)! Very exciting stuff!

Overheard...

• "Right is my favorite side, but left is pretty cool too." ~Monkey

• "My dolly is a black-eyed tree frog." ~Roo

• "Mom, (Roo) is my sister and my best friend." ~Monkey

• "Uh-oh." ~Goose (About the only thing she says coherently. Uttered at least a dozen times per day.)

We missed Daddy for the past 5 days while he was in San Diego and are glad he's back tonight. The kids and I had two fun beach days - approx 75 degrees in the sun - on Saturday and Monday with different families while he was gone, among other activities. Goose is now walking basically full-time!

Veteran's day hike in Ojai

The walking goose

On Friday October 22, nearly 3 weeks ago, the goose took her first three unassisted steps. Casually, in the living room, while the big kids and I were reading. Since then she has not exactly "taken off like a rocket." She can walk fine; she just doesn't care to. Which is fine. She's a crawler at heart, and she still crawls the vast majority of the time and walks occasionally.

Over the past week her interest has grown, and now she is up to perhaps 50-50. Here's a short clip from today, as she demo's her skills... our little drunken sailor girl.

In other milestone news, Roo has had the crib tent taken off her big-girl toddler bed for the past 3 nights and so far things have gone well. The tent was positioned there in late May after several weeks of things not going so well in her big girl bed. The freedom just seemed to still be too much for her, and she actually quite enjoyed the tent. Now the early evidence is showing that she doesn't need it anymore and can stay in her bed pretty happily. Let's hope it lasts!

Our birthday boy

We officially have a 5-year old! Hard to believe, but so fun at the same time. On November 1 in 2005, after 42 weeks of pregnancy and nearly 24 hours of labor, our sweet monkey entered the world and our lives. And we've never been the same again.

At his request, we had a dinosaur-theme party last weekend - dinosaur cake (as photographed), dinosaur plates and party hats, pin the tail on the dinosaur... A dinorific event. Even most of the gifts the monkey received were dinosaur-themed, about which he was thoroughly delighted. As per tradition, we had the Scherrei family over to celebrate with us... A pizza dinner followed by cake, ice cream, and party games. Great time! So thankful for that family, our stand-in family.

Dear monkey: how we love you! You are bright, funny, engaged, creative, and full of wonder. We could not have asked for a better son. Happy 5 to you, big boy!